


Revenge of the Playa

by CactusPot



Category: Total Drama (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, One Shot, TDWriMo, everyone bullies scott, they're all hangin' out at the pool
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:41:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28241055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CactusPot/pseuds/CactusPot
Summary: Jim took a moment to analyze the scene. Mike stood behind Jo and Brick. Anne Maria and B were floating in the water and—oh, Dawn was now joining them. Dakota and Sam sat on the left wall, and Staci stood behind them. That added up to nine kids.One was missing.“Where’s Scott?” Jim asked. “Chris told us he was eliminated last night.”Dakota and Sam stopped kicking the water. Everyone’s eyes were on Jim, which was odd. Usually, he was the one watching others, not vice versa.“Yeah, he got wrecked by that shark or something,” Jo piped up. “Chef and the interns had to call an ambulance, and he’s in the hospital.”~~~On the day before the season four finale, Jim the cameraman is tasked with catching up with the eliminated contestants at Playa des Losers.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 19





	Revenge of the Playa

Jim triple-checked the camera’s battery level before he headed into the Playa Des Losers. The only thing more unpleasant than filming angry, hormonal teenagers was informing an angry, hormonal reality show host that he’d lost hours of irreplaceable footage.

The battery level was optimal, fortunately, so Jim proceeded inside the sprawling building. Shouldering the camera, he entered the empty foyer.

“Hello?” 

No response. Jim adjusted the camera and started down the main hallway, calling for the competitors as he went. “Mike? Sam? Anne Maria?”

Jim peeked into an open doorway. This room, like the foyer, was empty. “Anybody home?”

Well, if he couldn’t find the kids, his job would become much more difficult. Jim pursed his lips, swung around to leave, and yelped in surprise.

“Almost everyone is outside, at the pool.” Dawn peered at him through curtains of platinum-blonde hair. “The finale is tomorrow, after all. We’re trying to get the most out of it.”

“Ah, thanks.” Jim blinked, and she was gone. _How_? His eyes had been shut for less than a millisecond.

Instead of puzzling over Dawn’s unsettling come-and-go nature, Jim made a beeline for the pool deck. He had no trouble finding it. He’d been a late hire to season one’s film team and knew the general layout of the Playa.

As Dawn had promised, an assortment of teenagers populated the pool deck. Jim flicked the start button, and the tape was rolling. He surveyed the area. Who to film first? The pool itself seemed as good a place as any to start.

A volleyball net and only two kids were enjoying the water. As Jim approached, neither looked up; evidently they’d gotten used to constant filming over the past two weeks.

On the left side of the pool, Brick tossed a volleyball. Anne Maria, her hands scrunched together, made contact. The ball hurled back across the net and slammed into the water with a resounding _sploosh_. Brick had missed it entirely.

“Five to four, _me_ ,” Anne Maria declared smugly. “Toss it back, doll. My serve.”

“You’re losing to Cheeto Puff? _Lame_.”

Jim angled the camera at Jo, who sat under an umbrella at a poolside table. She was scrunched into an unsociable ball, arms crossed and knees up.

Brick ignored her jibe. “Do you want to join us, Jo?”

“Absolutely not,” Jo said, though she wasn’t dressed for the pool anyway. Her shoes were off and a pair of sunglasses sat in her blonde hair, but she still wore her trademark grey hoodie and sweats.

“Girl, stop mopin’ around,” Anne Maria snapped. She caught the volleyball Brick had tossed and shot Jo a look. “Get your dang swimsuit and come play.”

“Jo doesn’t want to play because she knows I’ll beat her,” Brick said, a teasing lilt edging into his voice.

She didn’t take the bait. “I’d destroy both of you, no sweat. I’m doing you a favor by not playing.” Her scowl deepened and she recrossed her arms.

Anne Maria rolled her eyes. “Last I checked, we all got kicked out. You don’t see me stressin’ about it. Causes wrinkles,” she added with a glance at Jim’s camera.

“May I remind you, ma’am, that you’re the reason I was terminated?” Brick looked pointedly at Jo. “I’m not holding a grudge about it.”

“Well I’m still not playing,” Jo said definitively. “Oh look, here’s Mike McSkinny. He can throw with you.”

Jim zoomed out so both Jo and the approaching Mike were in frame.

Brick offered Mike a cordial salute. “Hello, soldier! Would you like to join us for a round of volleyball?”

Mike burst into a flurry of nervous giggles. “Um. Thanks, Brick, but I, uh, can’t?” His eyes darted to the right side of the pool, and the camera swiveled to follow his gaze.

A perturbed frown sat on Anne Maria’s face. Suddenly she was very interested in the volleyball she held.

“That’s a shame. Perhaps later in the day, then?”

“Sure. Maybe.” Mike pointed to the other side of the pool. “I’m gonna grab lunch.”

The game resumed. Jim followed Mike as he walked away.

“Hey!”

“Hmm?” Mike tilted his head, a subtle ‘what do you need from me?’ gesture.

“Ah, just treat this like a confessional.” Jim tapped the camera. “Walk and talk. What’ve you been up to? What’s the deal with Anne Maria?”

Mike exhaled. “Yeah, okay. I can do that.

“After I got here, I explained the whole multiple personality thing to Anne Maria. She was really cool about it, but now I’ve been avoiding her. Not ‘cause she did anything wrong. I just think, y’know… it’s an awkward situation.

“And no, Vito hasn’t shown up,” Mike said as if he anticipated the question. He tugged on his swim shirt. “The others haven’t, either. They’ll all come back eventually, but hopefully when that happens I’ll have a better relationship with them. I’m hoping that we’ll reach some breakthroughs in our therapy sessions after we get home.” 

Mike paused. “Hey, can you not mention the therapy part in the final episode?”

Jim flashed a thumbs up.

They reached the grill, where Dawn and B were chatting—well, the former chatted while the latter flipped burgers.

“Hello, Mike.” Dawn waved. “Hello again, Jim.”

“Hey, guys.” Mike nodded at B. “Can I have a burger, please?”

B held up two fingers.

Mike scratched his temple. “Two minutes or two burgers?”

Dawn tittered and placed a reassuring hand on Mike’s arm. “Two minutes.”

The two minutes passed; B flipped three hamburgers off the grill and onto plates. After using a self-built contraption to simultaneously douse all three burgers with ketchup, B passed out the meals.

“Thanks, man. You’re a lifesaver.” Mike bit in immediately. Dawn, beside him, did that same. Mike cast her a curious glance. “Dawn, you’re not a vegetarian?”

“Oh no, I’m not.” Dawn held up the burger. “Death and consumption are natural parts of the cycle of life. I always privately thank the animal for releasing its energy back into the world before I eat its remains.”

Dawn took a bite of her burger. A quizzical expression hung on Mike’s face, and B shrugged, already resigned to Dawn’s unorthodox behavior.

“That being said,” Dawn added, “the meatpacking industry does _not_ treat the Earth Mother’s creation with respect, and I will not stand for that.”

Jim, partially to stop a political discussion from breaking out, spoke up. “Do any of you know where Staci is? I didn’t see her when I came out here.”

Mike and B shook their heads. 

“She must be inside,” Dawn said. “Would you like me to fetch her?”

“If it’s not too much trouble,” Jim answered. “I’m hoping to film a poolside conversation with everyone in about ten minutes.”

“It’s no trouble at all.” Hamburger in hand, Dawn meandered back into the main building.

Jim left B and Mike at the grill and migrated to the other side of the pool. Three lounge chairs had been pushed together to hold Dakota, still tall, orange, and spiky, and Sam, who was curled up on his girlfriend’s lap. For once, Sam didn’t hold a gaming console. Instead, he held a comic book and was reading it to Dakota.

“Who is pretty girl on page?” Dakota rumbled, pointing to an unseen panel in the book.

“That’s Princess Nectarine.”

Dakota’s thick eyebrows pulled together. “But Princess Nectarine have yellow hair!”

“Usually, but it turns blue when she’s using her power-ups.” Sam chuckled. “They introduced that feature in her most recent game.”

“ _Oooh_.” Dakota nodded in understanding.

Jim paused the recording for a moment. “Hey, guys. We’re filming a group talk in about ten minutes.”

“Roger that!” Sam nodded at him.

“Dakota likes talking!” Dakota’s tail waved happily.

Jim turned off the camera and took a seat on a nearby lounge chair. Watching kids talk wasn’t hard, per se. The work was more tedious than anything else. And his shoulder was killing him.

Ten minutes later, the camera went on again. The kids gathered around the pool for the impromptu town hall.

Jo had apparently gotten out of her funk. She’d changed into a one-piece and swim shorts and was now sitting on the edge of the pool, kicking her feet in the water and arguing with Brick.

“I definitely would’ve beat you,” she insisted. “You have zero arm strength.”

Brick shook his head. “Negative! Basic training gave me plenty of arm strength.” He flexed his arms to prove his point.

Jo rolled her eyes. “Okay, _Lightning_.”

“Well if you’re so confident, then you should play me.”

“Make it worth my time,” Jo snarked, “and maybe I’ll consider it.”

Anne Maria waded past them, hairspray in hand. She drizzled the entire thing across her dark locks.

“Hey, is that gonna poison the water?” Sam asked, watching the mist fall across the pool surface. “I mean if I go swimming after you, will I lose a life?”

“How should I know?” Anne Maria shrugged. “I ain’t a poison control hotline.”

B waded into the pool, dipped his pinkie into the water, and shook his head.

Everyone exchanged confused glances; evidently, the meaning of his gesture was lost in translation.

“Greetings, friends!” Dawn reappeared with Staci. She beamed. “Have we initiated a session of group therapy?”

“My step-grandfather Sigmund invented therapy,” Staci supplied. “Before him, people just spiraled into self-destructive tendencies, yah.”

Jim took a moment to analyze the scene. Mike stood behind Jo and Brick. Anne Maria and B were floating in the water and—oh, Dawn was now joining them. Dakota and Sam sat on the left wall, and Staci stood behind them. That added up to nine kids.

One was missing.

“Where’s Scott?” Jim asked. “Chris told us he was eliminated last night.”

Dakota and Sam stopped kicking the water. Everyone’s eyes were on Jim, which was odd. Usually, _he_ was the one watching others, not vice versa.

“Yeah, he got wrecked by that shark or something,” Jo piped up. “Chef and the interns had to call an ambulance, and he’s in the hospital.”

“We don’t know the full story,” Brick added. “I believe it’s classified information.”

Apparently, Jim would be making a hospital stop before returning to Wawanakwa.

Dawn clucked her tongue. “I’d like to thank Fang for delivering some well-deserved karmic justice.”

Just about everyone’s eyebrows rose, and Brick’s jaw even dropped. “Dawn!”

“I mean, I don’t want Scott to _die_ or anything, but he’s the worst person I’ve ever met.” Mike folded his arms. “He blackmailed me in the worst way possible!”

Sam adjusted his glasses. “I didn’t realize until afterward that he’d been sabotaging our gameplay the entire time. Not cool.”

The rest of the original Toxic Rats mumbled in agreement.

“Was I the only one that liked Pit Stain?” Jo asked. Everyone stared at her, and she held her hands up in defense. “I mean yeah, he was a scumball, but his scummy activities benefited _me_.”

Anne Maria had whipped out a nail file. “Can’t fault you for that, blondie. I probably woulda been third person gone if not for Scott.”

“He _blackmailed_ me,” Mike repeated crossly.

Anne Maria paused her nail filing. “Well yeah, I’m not sayin’ he was a good guy. Tried to _drown_ me that time in the caves.”

“ _And_ he used the invincibility idol to get Dakota eliminated,” Sam pointed out.

“Well out of the final four, I would’ve wanted Scott to make the finale.” Jo was apparently determined to irk everyone. “He didn’t vote against me two days ago _and_ he didn’t keep me up all night with his crying.

“Speaking of which, is today gonna be like that one season one episode? Do we get to kick off a person?”

“You mean when they accidentally voted Leshawna out?” Brick asked. “That was shameful.”

“Yeahm exactly. I’m voting Cameron out,” Jo said. “All in favor say aye.”

No one said aye.

“I actually want Cam to win,” Sam said. “He’s an underdog, y’know?”

“Yah, me too,” Staci agreed, planting her hands on her hips. “My third cousin twice removed invented bubbles, so Cameron’s pretty much helping my family, ya.”

“I’m also Team Cam,” Anne Maria said. “He’s a sweetie.” Her gaze flitted to Mike.

B raised his hand, making him the fourth member of Team Cam.

“Uh, who’s Team Zoey?” Mike asked. “I hate to root against my best buddy Cam, but Zoey’s also amazing and, y’know, my girlfriend.”

“I’d follow Zoey into battle any day.” Brick saluted.

“I would as well,” Dawn agreed.

“Again, I would’ve picked Scott for the million.” Jo sighed dramatically. “But I guess I’ll back you guys up. At least Red didn’t _double-cross_ me. Also, Lightning deserves to get his butt kicked by a girl.”

Brick chuckled at her last statement.

Suddenly, everyone’s eyes were on Dakota.

“It’s four to four, babe,” Sam told her as he wrapped an arm around her waist. “You’re the tiebreaker.”

Dakota looked around, her red eyes wide. “Oh! Dakota picks Lightning.”

“ _What_?” Jo threw her hands in the air. “That Airhead?”

“Lightning is Toxic Rat,” Dakota explained. She rapped a fist against her chest. “That Dakota’s team!”

Brick nodded. “There’s something to be said for loyalty. I respect you, ma’am.”

“Oh, shut up.” Jo wrinkled her nose. “Whatever. It’s still four to four to one. Hey, camera dude!” She waved at Jim. “We’re voting out Brightning! Send ‘em over.”

Jim sucked in a breath. “Um. You guys aren’t voting. This segment is just to catch up with you guys after your eliminations.”

“Then _what_ was the point?” Jo demanded.

“I think this was very soothing.” Dawn floated calmly past Jo. “It was a bonding experience.”

“It was nice to know you guys don’t like Scott as much as I do,” Mike agreed.

The kids dissolved into chatter. Jim hit the stop button on the camera. “Well, I think I’ve gotten all I need from you guys. Thanks for helping me out.”

“No prob, guy,” Sam said.

“Okay, everybody _out_ of the pool,” Jo ordered. “I’m about to demolish Private Peepants at volleyball.”

The teens scattered, and Jim waved goodbye to some of them as he left. He walked through the Playa and out through the front doors. A boat waited at the Playa's dock, ready to take him to his next stop: the hospital, so he could get _some_ footage of Scott.

But first, he needed the address. Jim pulled out his phone and dialed the number of his superior, the head cameraman.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Dwight. Just finished filming the kids at the Playa. I was wondering, could you get the name of Scott’s hospital? I need to get over there and interview him.”

“Jim, I was just about to call you. Chris and I were talking earlier, and apparently the network has only approved thirteen episodes for this season. No room for a fourteenth, sorry.”

“Wait.” Jim stopped walking halfway across the dock. “So you’re saying I filmed all that for nothing?”

“Well, not _nothing_.” Dwight snorted. “You got more experience, didn’t you?”

It hadn’t been the _worst_ way to spend an afternoon, but still. “Maybe we can put this on the DVD? As bonus footage?”

“We’ll definitely consider it,” Dwight replied in a tone that indicated he would not consider it at all. “Anyways, get your butt back to Wawanakwa. The final three are in the middle of a challenge, and the guys and I have a betting pool started.”

“Who’s your money on?”

“Lightning, for sure.”

 _The kids aren’t gonna like that_ , Jim thought as he boarded the boat and returned to Wawanakwa.

**Author's Note:**

> Jim the cameraman be like *looks into the camera like he's in the Office*
> 
> This week's TDWriMo prompt was 'deleted scenes'. Actually, this was inspired by a Tumblr post about how the kids at the Playa would've bonded over their dislike of Scott. Seems legit.


End file.
